The
month started with the arrival of the Michigan DESA
crew making their annual fall pilgrimage to the SLATER for a week of hard work. Earl
Moorhouse
led Dick Walker, Gary Headworth, Jim Ray, Roy
Brandon, Ron Mazure, Guy Huse and Laird Conferon a weeklong work party that saw a lot of work
accomplished. They scaled and painted the deck in the main gun director
platform, scaled and painted the deck around the gun 3 tub to the gangway and
under the K gun roller loaders, rolled out the hull sides amidships on the
portside, repaired two watertight doors, and completed fabrication of the 20mm
ready service locker cover for 20mm gun 23 forward of the pilothouse. We were
going to repaint the forward port balsa liferaft, but upon lowering it to the
maindeck, found it was rotted to the consistency of paper mache. Tommy Moore
was forced to cut it up and they hauled it to the dumpster. The crew restored
the wooden grating and lashed it into one of the new Styrofoam bodies. We
hoisted it up on the rack after the paint had dried. Their only complaint was
the lack of a cook, so it was cold cereal and cold cuts for most of the week. Captain
LouRenna on the DUTCH APPLE provided some of their meals, and Doug
Tanner came in early on a couple mornings on his way to work to fix them
breakfast, but it wasn’t like the old days with Bill Kramer in the
galley. We invited them to stay for the volunteer party and partake of Stan
Murawski’s feed on Saturday night. They were so hungry by then they gladly
accepted. And by keeping them till the party we got an extra day’s work out of
them!

The
event that got them to stay was our eighth annual volunteer appreciation
dinner.
This is an event that was started by Claire Osterreich and Frank
Perrella back in 1998 to build friendship and camaraderie among all the
volunteers. Right now, locally, we have just over 100 active volunteers on our
list, not counting all the out-of-towners who help. This is a chance for them
to get together with each other, bring their wives, and show them everything
we’ve accomplished over the past year. Stan Murawski handled food this
year. Stan baked lasagna for eighty, made up salad, and even baked ten loaves
of bread in the new ship’s ovens. The smell was outstanding! Paul Czesak
arranged a special ceremony to honor Beth Spain following her active
duty Naval service in Kuwait. Beth reported aboard in her desert camouflage and
was awarded a meritorious service commendation medal by the New York State
Naval Militia. Proud husband Mark stood by while she received the award,
though there was some talk that he was the one who truly deserved a medal for
staying home with the kids. Beth continues to serve and protect us. She has
returned full time to her position as a boat captain with the Naval Militia
guarding the Indian Point nuclear power station. It’s great to have her home.

The evening also gave us a chance to remember two of our shipmates who are no
longer with us.Ed Whitbeck, a former Seabee who served with the 13th
Battalion and also was a fireman aboard the troop transport GENERAL WILLIAM
HASE AP146, died of a heart attack. Ed came to the SLATER in 2000 because he
“Just wanted to help out on a great project.” He became one of our most
dedicated chippers, putting in a day or two every week. He played a major role in SLATER's restoration since his
arrival aboard. Always kind of a private person, he ate his lunch in his
truck for two years before he got sociable with the rest of the crew. I went back to see how he answered the question where we
ask potential volunteers to describe themselves in three words. Ed had left it
blank. His last date aboard was Monday September 12th, when he spent the day chipping around the port
"K" Guns. He was in great shape and seemed indestructible. When he
left the ship, he said, “See you next week.” Chippers are hard to lose. They
don’t make ‘em like that anymore.

On the heels of losing Ed Whitbeck, we learned that Leo
"Hack" Charbonneau died of cancer following a tough battle.
Hack had served on the USS EDWARD H. ALLEN DE531 as a gunner’s mate. Hack was a close friend of Tom
Beeler and was a rigger/welder who was with us back when SLATER looked like
she was going to sink at the pier. He and Tom made modifications to the mast
including removing a large platform the Greeks had added and installing a top
section of ladder so we could service the radar antenna. They restored the flag
bags, and helped teach us how to rig the camels and the whaleboat in and out of
the water. You who were
with us at the beginning will remember that Hack was one of our best riggers
and we could always count on him for the tough jobs. We always put him in
charge, giving the orders to the crane operator, because, “He was the best.”
Tom Beeler brought Hack down to the ship for the last time, a few weeks ago, to
visit with his shipmates and donate his military carbine to the museum. Hack
came down in uniform of the day, in full dungarees and his CAPDESA jacket. I
believe Hack would have been just as reclusive as Ed, but his devoted wife Shirley and good friends like Tom brought him out. So the next time you’re
aboard, look up the mast and remember Hack.

We also were saddened to learn of the
passing of tour guide Charlie Havlick.
Charlie had been with us for six years as a tour guide, having served as an
electrician’s mate on the USS ORLECK DD886. We remembered them the night of the
volunteer appreciation dinner with our flag at half-staff, a eulogy, and a
volley from the number three three-inch gun. It was a fitting tribute to three
fine sailors. However, as we lose faithful volunteers such as these, new folks
step forward to take their places. As I write, new volunteers Don Miller DD672, Earl
Herchenroder US Army, Grant Hack, a former Coast Guard EN, Steve
Long, an SM 2 from USS BOUTETOURT APA136 and SHADWELL LSD25, and Jim
Hewitt have joined our ranks to preserve the SLATER.

Key Bank sent twelve volunteers down to the ship for their
“Neighbors Make a Difference Day” on October 6th.
Key Bank executive Tom Geisel supervised while his crew touched up the white
paint and painted out the deck in berthing compartment C-201L where we had
installed the septic tank last winter. They also painted out the new floater
net basket, the two fantail 20mm ready service lockers, cleaned shelves in the
gift shop, and installed the upper gear drive on gun 31. That last task was a
major accomplishment done under the supervision of Russ Ferrer.
The upper unit of the train gear drive on gun 1 had worn out, so the crew
removed the upper train drive from gun 2. Using the barrel of gun 2 as a crane
they lowered the gearbox to the main deck and installed it, so gun 1 now
operates on manual drive. The worn drive was hoisted back to the gun shack for
future disassembly and hopefully new gears. This evolution has involved almost
all hands at one time or another, but it was the crew from Key Bank
that provided the beef for the big lift and the final installation.

We
had expert help from another source. Back during the summer we had a visit by Hank
Kuzma, who is employed by Naval Sea Systems Command as a damage control
specialist. Hank was impressed enough with SLATER that he asked if he could
come back and organize our repair lockers. We never turn down free help, so we
said of course, figuring, like so many, we’d never hear from him again. Hank
was different. His offer became a promise. He enlisted the aid of his friend Ken
Carter, and they spent four days aboard while living in a motel at their
own expense. Ken, in particular, eats, sleeps and breathes damage control. Ken
has served with thirteen ships and shore
stations over a thirty-year career and retired in 1986 as a Chief Warrant
Officer-Ship Repair Tech. He continued to work with NAVSEA as a damage control
specialist, so he is nearing fifty years of Naval related service, with
extensive experience in the areas of Damage Control, Firefighting,
Chemical-Biological and Radiological Defense and Survivability. In short, he
knows about damage control.

During their four-day stay, Ken and Hank performed many tasks to upgrade the SLATER’s
DAMAGE CONTROL DISPLAYS of WWII equipment. They started out by touring the ship to
determine what was onboard and where it was stowed. Next they moved everything
out of Aft Repair 3. They assembled and staged all equipment from the various
storerooms. Most of the equipment had to be reconditioned and restored to its
original condition as much as possible.
For the next three days they hauled
equipment, scraped, wire-brushed, ground, chipped, sandblasted, painted,
oil-coated, lubricated, cleaned tools, gas mask, breathing apparatus and the
spaces. They then assembled as close as possible the complete WWII DC Equipment
Inventory of Aft Repair 3. To restore the locker, everything was removed, the
space cleaned, and then they had to arrange and remount all the restored
equipment in an organized layout. This included installing new brackets,
hangers and hooks. They organized the equipment for each function and provided
a toolbox or bag for most of the items. Some equipment was placed on shelves.
The Shoring Chest, Duplex Foam Proportioner, Mechanical Foam Nozzle, one All
Purpose Nozzle, Spanner Wrenches, Telephone Head Sets, red devil blowers, P-250
pumps and eductors equipment were arranged in the passageways near Repair 3.
After all equipment was reconditioned and restored, they took and indexed
photos, and took an Inventory, which has been compiled and sent back to us for
the locker. With those two pros aboard we felt like we were going back into
commission. It was great to have these two experts aboard and we hope to
continue our relationship with them. For those of you who are interested, Ken
maintains NAVSEA’s DC historical website and you can check it out at http://www.dcfp.navy.mil/

Gordon Lattey reached another milestone in his restoration efforts.
Working in conjunction with
Cliff Woltz and based on photographs taken aboard the USS STEWART in
Galveston, they sketched and had the fiddleboards made for the wardroom
table. For those of you not familiar
with fiddleboards, these are wooden covers that fit over the wardroom table
with holes cut out for the plates, bowls and cups so that the dishware doesn’t
slide off the table in a heavy sea. They don’t keep the food from sliding off
your plate, but they will keep your plate from sliding off the table. Joe
Breyer has fabricated racks for them in the forward passageway, and they
provide another dimension of life on a DE for tour guides to give visitors a
better understanding of just how tough life was on these ships. Gordon has also
purchased enough blankets off E-Bay so that every bunk in the forward berthing
spaces now has a white wool Navy blanket. The rest of the crew continues to
make progress, too. The shipfitters are in the process of mounting their first
floater net basket aft on the starboard side. Three more to go. The engineers
have solved all the problems with the emergency diesel generator and the
whaleboat diesel, so all the engines that are supposed to be working are
actually working! Knock on wood. Doug Tanner and Tim Benner were working
out of the whaleboat checking out the hull on the starboard side when they
found a soft spot about a foot and a half above the waterline and poked a
quarter size hole in B-1 behind the wireway. They put a temporary doubler over
it until that dream day when we can get into a shipyard. The worst corrosion is
at the full load waterline, and since were riding so light and high, well,
let’s just say we’re riding on slightly better metal at the light waterline.

We
were honored when Pat Perrella was honored by the Historic Naval Ships
Association with the HenryVadnais, Jr. Award for 2005. This award is given to an
outstanding curator in the organization, and anyone who knows her knows she has
made an outstanding contribution to the SLATER. Her citation read in part, “Pat
came aboard SLATER in 1998 providing administrative support and played a key
role in establishing our first Destroyer Escort Day Memorial Service. She
helped develop the ship’s monthly publication SLATER SIGNALS. She handled all
the computer work in producing and mailing the newsletter and paid the costs
for the first two years.” Pat brought me into the computer age by donating the
hardware to the museum and teaching me how to use it. Pat eventually turned her
attention to the neglected effort of collection management. By 2001, the ship
restoration had progressed to permit consideration of museum exhibits aboard
the ship, initially in the after crew berthing compartment. She oversaw the
conversion of the space by utilizing the existing lockers for artifacts. The
following year the decision was made to move the display space aft to reduce
the threat of water damage from the head above, and to provide more space. Pat
converted the supply office into a curatorial office and the after officers
stateroom for object storage. Teaching herself collections management and
curatorial procedures with the help of area professionals and publications, Pat has
been incredibly dedicated and meticulous in her museum duties. She has
established a record on every museum object to include photographs, detailed
catalog entries and accountability.
There seems to be no task too complicated, too technical or too menial
for her to accomplish. She has developed such skills and knowledge of the
collection that she was invited to present a seminar on the Destroyer Escort
Historical Museum to the prestigious Albany Institute of History and Art, one
of the area’s leading museums. Pat Perrella has played a vital role in the
development of a professional museum on board SLATER.” I can honestly say that
without Pat Perrella, we would not have a Destroyer Escort Museum aboard the
SLATER. Paul Czseak was present at the annual HNSA conference to accept
the award on Pat’s behalf.

The only reason I wasn’t there to accept the award for
Pat was that the DESA convention was being held in Orlando over the same dates.
Since DESA is our parent, and so many of our contributors are DESA members, I
felt it was important to be at the DESA convention and bring them up to date on
the progress we have made since last year. Paul Czesak put together a
beautiful PowerPoint presentation and Erik Collin made a brief video to
document all the progress we have made in the past year. I am like a
grandparent showing pictures of his grandchildren when it comes to SLATER. I
have the potential to bore you to tears in my excitement. However, the group at
the seminar wanted to see them all, so I am most appreciative. I’m indebted to
DESA webmaster Pat Stephens who provided the PowerPoint projector and
got me straightened out when I couldn’t figure out the unfamiliar
technology. It was great to see so many
old friends and make new ones. We truly hope one day to be able to bring the
DESA group back to Albany to see first-hand the progress we have made on SLATER
thanks to you.

Remember
the special performance by Master storyteller Jay
O'Callahan about his uncle Father Joe O'Callahan, chaplain aboard the USS
FRANKLIN when it was hit by Japanese dive bombers in March 1945, on November 9
at 7:30 p.m. at the American Legion Zaloga Post on Everett Road. Tickets are $10
in advance and are available at the SLATER office. Also, sadly, winter is fast
approaching, and worse, that means I’ll be coming at you with our annual Winter
Fund Appeal next issue. Try to put a few extra bucks aside to help us get through
another winter. These guys are working their hearts out for you. Now, if you
hate getting solicitations as much as I hate asking, you can consider
yourselves forewarned. Thanks for everything and...